The newest way to enforce attendance: scanning students when they come into class. Here’s how this college will do it. 

Northern Arizona University is installing a $75,000 electronic sensor system to detect student ID cards as students enter large classrooms. Faculty members then receive electronic reports telling them who actually showed up for class.

The project is aimed at improving attendance, the first step toward boosting student engagement, participation, and ultimately, academic performance.

Typically, some students view the new system as an invasion of privacy. Others complain that students should be responsible for their decision to attend or skip a class, without being pressured by ID scans.

There’s also the question of students gaming the system, potentially by giving their ID cards to friends who will attend the classes. But the school, seeing it as a minimal threat, hasn’t designed a policy to address the issue.

Will this system get more students to class, or are there other ways of improving attendance? Share your thoughts below.

Tags: ID scanners, Northern Arizona University, student attendance